Rome-based multidisciplinary, pagan folk artist Lili Refrain harnesses music into a ritual soundscape on her latest album, Nagalite.
Spiralling through chant-work and whirling instrumentals, Nagalite guides us with messages channelled solely through the spiritual and musical lens of Lili Refrain. Crafting a moving, almost operatic experience, Nagalite asks for deeper engagement and interaction with the Stone Serpent (Lithos + Naga) messenger that Refrain has conjured to hear and heal our world with their sacred secrets.
Nagalite is a reflection, a totem, a hope for transformation and rebirth in response to the dark times we are living through.”
– Lili Refrain
Each song of Nagalite covers a specific element of Refrain’s transformation story. ‘Exuvia’ acts as a song of earnest keening with lamenting vocals and heavy synth, while ‘Nagal’ is a track of manifestation and expansion with a precise fusion of acoustic and electric ambience.
Shifting from archaic to more modern tones, ‘Coil’ inhabits a psychedelic, dark synth dominion of liminality that challenges the paths previously taken and the ones that lay ahead.
The last track, ‘Lithos’ is perfectly placed as the humming melody of finality. Droning synth and sitar-like samples drift in and out, scattering soft, sonic petals at the feet of the album’s end. A plea to emerge from the ashes, ‘Lithos’ is fortifying and beautifully fragile.
Lili Refrain’s transcendental vocals and divine musicality firmly affix Nagalite as a new pagan rock staple that casts a healing aura with every note. Transmutational and commanding, the tracks of Nagalite can easily blend into witch workings, meditation, and magical playlists.
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